Thill-support.



No. 765,393. PATENTED JULY 19, 1904. W. A. MUELLER.

THILL SUPPORT.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 14 1904.

N0 MODEL.

[NI ENTOR ow/Q I 24 BY Patented July 19, 1904;

PATENT OFFICE.

IVILLIAM A. MOELLER, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

THlLL-SUPPORT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 765,393, dated July 19,1904.

Application filed March 14, 1904.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that LWILLIAM A. MoELLER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Oincinnati,county of Hamilton, and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Thill-Supports, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to devices for supporting thills or shafts of theordinary vehicle and may also be applied to the tongue of the ordinaryvehicle.

The object of the invention is the provision of means whereby the thillis held in certain predetermined positions, and thereby prevented fromcoming in contact with the dashboard when thrown up ,or coming incontact with the ground when lowered.

A further object of the invention is the provision of means foradjusting the means for holding the thill in its raised or loweredposition.

A still further object of the invention is the novel way in which theoperation is performed and in the combination of parts and specialfeatures, which will be more fully hereinafter described, and pointedout in the appended claims.

I attain these objects by means which will be illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side view, partly insection, of the device and showing the axle in section. Fig. 2 is a rearView showing the bifurcated clip which is secured to the axle. Fig. 3shows a modification of this clip, and Fig. 4 shows my preferred form ofpivoting the guide-bar to the thill.

Referring more specially to the drawings, 1 represents the axle of usualform, and 2 represents the thill, which is secured through a coupling 3of ordinary construction to the axle 1 by a U-shaped clip 4:. Beneaththe axle and secured thereto by the U-shaped clip is an L-shaped clip 5,provided with an elongated aperture 6, defining arms 7, which areadapted to straddle the clip 4 and be engaged thereby.

Removably secured to the thill at a suitable point is an L-shapedangle-iron 8, having ears or lugs 9, between which is pivoted theguidebar 10, with a slot 11 extending almost the entire length of saidbar.

Serial No. 198,019. (No model.)

This bar is adapted to be inserted through a slot 12 in the clip 5 andreciprocate therethrough.

Adjustably secured to the bar 10 on one side of the clip 5 is anadjusting device 13, which is held in position upon the bar 10 by thesetscrew 14, which passes through the slot 11. On the opposite side ofthe clip 5 and adjustably secured to the bar 10 by means of setscrews 16is an inverted-U-shaped member 17, in which is pivoted a pawl 18,actuated by the spring 19 and which is notched at 20, so as to engagetheupper end of the clip 5. This U- shaped member may be adjusted to andfro upon the bar 10 to any desired degree, as also may be the adjustingdevice 13.

When it is desired to lower the thill, the catch 18 is raised from itsengagement with the clip 5 and the thill is allowed to descend until theadjusting device 13 comes in contact with the clip 5, which limits itsdownward movement.

. It will be understood that when the thill is raised the bar 10 willslide through the slot 12 in the clip 5 until the catch 18 comes inengagement with the clip 5, when it will ride up upon said clip untilthe notch 20 comes in register with said clip 5 and then will drop toprevent any farther movement of the thill upward. This prevents thethill from coming in contact with the dashboard and damaging it, whichis not the case with most thillsupports.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a modification of the clip 5 whereby the U-shapedclip is adapted to pass through holes 21 in the lower portion thereof.

In Fig. 4 I have shown the preferred form of the means for attaching thebar 10 to the thill. In this two members 22 of like design are securedtogether by bolts 23 and 241, on the latter of which the bar 10 isadapted to pivot.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a thill-support, the combination with an axle, of a thillconnected thereto, a member secured to one of them, means carried bysaid member adapted to limit the fall of the thill, and supplementalmeans carried by said member adapted to limit the rise of the thill,said last-named means adapted to lock the thill in its raised position.

2. In a thill-support, the combination with an axle, of a thillconnected thereto, a member pivoted to one of them, means carried bysaid pivoted member adapted to limit the fall of the thill, andsupplemental means carried by said pivoted member adapted to limit therise of said thilLsaid last-named means adapted to lock the thill in itsraised position.

3. In a thill-support, the combination with an axle, of a thill securedthereto, a slotted member secured to one of them and cooperating withthe other of them, means carried by said slotted member engaging saidslot and adapted to limit the rise of said thill, and supplemental meanscarried by said slotted member adapted to limit the fall of said thill.

4:. In a thill-support, the combination with an axle, of a thill securedthereto, a slotted member pivoted to one of them and cooperating withthe other of them, means carried by said member and engaging said slotand adjustably limiting the rise of said thill, and supplemental meanscarried by said member and engaging said slot and adapted to adjustablylimit the fall of said thill.

5. In a thill-support, the combination with an axle, a thill attachedthereto, of a slotted member pivoted to said thill, a clip secured tosaid axle, and supplemental means carried by said pivoted slotted memberand adapted to engage said clip for limiting the movement of the thill.

6. In a thill-support, the combination with an axle, a thill attachedthereto, and a slotted member pivoted tosaid thill, of a clip removablysecured to said axle and having a slot therein, said pivoted memberadapted to engage said slot, means adjustabl y engaging the slot on saidpivoted memberto limit the downward movement of said slot, and aspringpressed member carried by said pivoted member adapted to hold thethill in a predetermined position.

7. In a thill-support, the combination with an axle, a thill attachedthereto, of an angleiron secured to said thill, a slotted member pivotedto said angle-iron, a catch adjustably secured to said pivoted member,an adjusting device adjustably secured to said member, and meansintermediate said adjusting device and said catch adapted to cooperatewith each to limit the rise and fall of said thill.

8. In a thill-support, the combination with an axle, a thill securedthereto, and a member pivoted to said thill, of a bifurcated clipremovably-secured to said axle and having a slot therein adapted toreceive said pivoted member, a limiting device adjustably secured tosaid pivoted member adapted to limit the up ward movement of said thill,and a catch pivoted to said limiting device and adapted to hold thethillin a predetermined position.

9. In a thill-support, the combination with an axle, a thill securedthereto and a slotted member pivoted to said thill, of a bifurcated clipremovably secured to said axle and projecting above, said clip providedwith a slot, an inverted U shaped member adapted to straddle the pivotedmember, set-screws engaging said U-shaped member and the slot of thepivoted member and adapted to hold said U-shaped member in anypredetermined position upon the pivoted member, and a springpressedcatch pivoted within said U-shaped member and adapted to engage saidbifurcated clip.

10. In a thill-support, the combination with an axle, and a thillsecured thereto, of a slotted member secured to one of them, a slottedmember pivoted to the other of them and adapted to cooperate with thesecured slotted member, and means adjustably secured to the pivotedslotted member and adapted to engage the secured slotted member to limitthe rise and fall of the thill.

11. In a thill-support, the combination with an axle, and a thillattached thereto, of a slotted member secured to one of them, andsupplemental means adjustably carried on said slotted member adapted tolimit the rise and fall of said thill.

12., In a thill-support, the combination with an axle, and a thillattached thereto, of a slotted member pivoted to one of them, a clipsecured to the other of them, and supplemental means adjustablycarriedon said pivoted slotted member and adapted to engage said clip to limitthe rise and fall of said thill.

13. In a thill-support, the combination with an axle, and a thillsecured thereto, of a slotted member pivoted to one of them, a slottedclip secured to the other of them, said slotted member adapted to engagethe slot in the clip, and means carried by the slotted member adapted toengage said clip to limit the movement of said thill.

14. In a thill-support, the combination with an axle and a thill securedthereto, of a pivoted member having a slot secured to one of them, aclip having a slot removably secured to the other of them, said pivotedmember adapted to engage the slot in the clip, means.

\NM. A. MOELLER.

Witnesses:

E. E. MoELLER, IV. A. SnIoNToN.

